In addition to distracting employees from their work, gossip can cause problems between coworkers. Such interaction at a work place helps the working process to go faster and forces the employees to share the result and the effort placed at the accomplishments of the tasks that also work as the motivation. An important part of management is shutting down negative gossip in the workplace before employees start to distrust each other, which can lead to a breakdown in communication and teamwork. Healthy work healthy living tip sheet managing gossip in.
Pdf gossip in the workplace and the implications for hr. The danger of workplace gossip careerstone group, llc. Gossip is a common phenomenon in the workplace, but yet relatively little is understood about its influence to employees. Gossip is often a lifelong habit and breaking it can take a great deal of effort. Toxic workers michael housman cornerstone ondemand dylan minor kellogg school of management, northwestern university november, 2015 abstract while there has been a strong focus in past research on discovering and developing top performers in the workplace, less attention has been paid to the question of how to manage. Gossip is an emotional cancer in the workplace that eats away at the sense of wellbeing of the individual and the team. The dangers of workplace gossip hr payroll systems. However, if people work in a team, it is hardly possible to avoid gossiping. Some negative consequences of workplace gossip are. How good managers deal with gossip in the workplace. In the workplace, the quiet, most insidious type of betrayal can come in the form of gossip, speculation or rumour about events or others. Gossip can be a symptom of a larger, more pervasive problem in the workplace.
Use a coaching approach, when possible, to help the employee improve his or her behavior. One hallmark of a true team is shared values including mutual honesty, trust and respect. This book is about a girl named rachel who visits her dad in florida after he left her mom and her. No matter how its done, gossip decreases productivity in your workplace. Its also conducted through the free will of employees, and regulating that is very difficult without creating a big brother climate. False workplace gossip can result in company liability. Workplace gossip is present in nearly every type of organization that exists and can be very difficult to avoid or stamp out. False workplace gossip can result in company liability by ken hardin in cxo on march 3, 2003, 12. This study adopts social information theory and social cognitive theory to. You can manage gossip exactly as you would manage any other negative behavior from an employee in your workplace. Gossip is no longer limited to whispered conversations around the water cooler or staff room, but can spread quickly through much larger groups, via email, sms and social media.